Friday, 2 January 2015

Across the world: Islamic banking assets cross $2t

The year 2014 proved remarkable for Islamic banking and finance industry across the world.

It not only crossed $2 trillion in assets but also got access to new markets including various destinations in Europe, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Malta, Argentina, China among others.

Islamic banking and finance gained popularity in its traditional markets – Malaysia, Pakistan and the Middle East – as well. There are many countries that recently stepped into Islamic banking and showed good progress, which include Morocco, Tunis, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Oman, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa.

While giving prediction for Islamic banking and finance in 2015, Al-Huda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) CEO Muhammad Zubair Mughal said it was likely to rise above the $2.5-trillion mark this year.

In this market, the share of Islamic banking will be 86%, Sukuk 6%, Islamic funds 4%, takaful 2% and Islamic microfinance 1%.